Knowing when it’s Time to say Goodbye

They’ve been with you for years.

They’ve been part of your life.

You’ve spent hours and hours in each other’s company, day in, day out.

You’ve walked or ridden, for a thousand miles or more, together.

You might even have been turning a blind eye to their slow demise for quite some time.

Of course, you knew all along that the day would come. You might have started preparing yourself for it. Maybe you’ve been looking at potential replacements every so often. Heck, maybe you even introduced a replacement or two into your life a while back, but you’re still putting off that Final Farewell.

But deep down, you know that Departure Day is approaching.

How can you be sure that it’s the right time to say goodbye?

I think it’s time I faced the truth. My beloved old Ariats are finished. They’re holey, down-at-heel and tatty. The plastic trim around the toes is cracked and flaking off. The lining inside is beginning to fall apart. They’ve been letting water in for quite some time now.

I have travelled literally thousands of kilometres in these boots. They’ve been my hiking boots and my riding boots for more than four years now and have been worn almost every day of those four years. Before I left Ireland, I bought their replacements at TRI Equestrian, but they just don’t feel the same. They’re a chunkier, heavier boot and they feel stiff and weird on my feet.

I’ll just have to get used to them, I suppose.

OK, Ariat Tellurides. You’ve been promoted to being my No. 1 pair of boots.